Mysore/Mysuru: The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) has decided to scientifically dispose of mounds of Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste being dumped across city daily. Thousands of tonnes of debris is illegally dumped at open sites, along the Ring Road, street corners and also on lake-beds and this has become a headache for MCC. 

At the MCC Council meeting held yesterday at Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar Hall under the Chairmanship of Mayor Tasneem, detailed discussion was held on the topic where Corporators expressed concern about truckloads of C&D waste dumped on a day-to-day basis. 

Mysuru generates over 150 tonnes of C&D waste daily. People carry such waste in trucks and dump them under the cover of darkness. The dumping usually is carried out in less-populated areas and on the Ring Road. It is difficult to identify such people and bring them to book, Corporators argued. 

They observed that due to indiscriminate dumping of C&D waste, the civic body loses out 50 points in the annual Swachh Survekshan that makes Mysuru to rank less among the cleanest city. The discussion on C&D waste was taken up at the MCC following a power-point presentation by Susthira Trust in September this year. 

The presentation was made to Mayor, MCC Commissioner Gurudatta Hegde and other officers and Standing Committee Chairmen. The proposal was to dispose of the waste in a scientific and sustainable manner under Public-Private partnership. 

The issue was taken up in the MCC meeting and after discussion, it was however, decided to handover the project to some other company (instead of the company that came up with the proposal) after giving mandatory advertisements in newspapers calling for companies for expression of interest.   

Most of the Corporators were concerned about the land allocation for the project and the terms of lease — whether it is two years or five years. They called upon the authorities to impose penalties on the company that initially agrees to dispose of C&D waste but abandon the project later. They gave the example of New Delhi and Nagpur where C&D waste is being  successfully. 

Corporators drew the attention of the Council on the savings that MCC can achieve if the C&D waste is scientifically disposed of. Instead of the income that will be generated out of the waste treatment plant, the MCC must look at the savings part and also the city environs that will be free of construction debris, they suggested. Except land, MCC would not invest any money and the company would manage the Plant on BOOT (Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) model, they suggested.  These opinions were aired by Corporators Pramila Bharath, K.V. Sridhar, SBM Manju, Ayub Khan, Prema Shankaregowda, Shivakumar and B.V. Manjunath. 

Saving on paper, the MCC way

The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) is aiming for a paperless system, at least in some of its functioning wings. The Council meetings for example where a lot of paper is required and used to inform the Corporators and officers about the meeting agenda, agenda of Standing Committees meetings, information booklets, Government notices from time to time, decisions of the MCC meetings in the past and publications. 

Of course the paperless idea is a costly proposition as the MCC has to buy laptops or tablets for all 65 Corporators. The Council meeting that was held yesterday decided to purchase laptops or tablets to all the Corporators to save on paper. 

But the moot question here is that if at all the MCC has to buy gadgets for its elected representatives, it has to spend considerable money towards the purchase. If the Corporators demand expensive gadgets, can the cash-strapped MCC afford to spend that much? This is a million dollar question.